According to the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), heat domes are most likely
to form in North America during La Niña years — such as 2021 — when waters are cool in the eastern
Pacific and warm in the western Pacific during the preceding winter. This temperature difference
creates winds that push hot air eastward towards North America. Eventually, the warm air
gets trapped in the jet stream, a current of air going counterclockwise around Earth, and
becomes pushed over land in the Pacific Northwest. 
Scientists are often hesitant to directly link short-term weather events to the wider human-
driven climate crisis. However, many are already speculating that freak heatwaves like this
could become increasingly common and even more extreme as the world continues to
creep up in temperature due to climate change. 

"Might a heat dome have developed out West this past week without climate change? Sure. Might it have
been as extreme as what we’re witnessing without climate change? Almost surely not," Dr Michael E
Mann, a leading climate scientist, and Susan Joy Hassol, director of the nonprofit organization Climate
Communication, wrote in an opinion article for the New York Times this week.
"The science is clear on how human-caused climate change is already affecting heat waves: Global
warming has caused them to be hotter, larger, longer and more frequent. What were once very rare events
are becoming more common."